Bound to the Greek (21 page)

A
family.

In that moment he could picture it so clearly, so beautifully. He saw himself, he saw a baby, he saw
Eleanor,
and all the fear fell away.

This was what he wanted. What he needed.

He loved Eleanor. It was suddenly so obvious, so overwhelming. It wasn’t a possibility or a fear or a hope. It was
real.
His love. His family.

‘Yes,’ he said slowly, starting to smile. ‘A family.’

For the next few days Eleanor immersed herself in work. She was good at that, good at using it to push her thoughts and fears away. Yet overseeing food deliveries and arranging
catering still left her with far too much time to remember how good it had been between her and Jace, and wonder whether it really was over. He didn’t call, and although she had his mobile number she wasn’t quite desperate enough?yet—to ring him, when he obviously had no interest in speaking with her.

The afternoon before the party Eleanor was in the kitchen, going over sleeping arrangements of all the guests with Agathe, when her mobile phone finally trilled tinnily. Eleanor reached for it with a sense of relief; she’d been waiting for Jace to call all this time, even if she’d pretended?to herself—that she wasn’t.

‘Jace?’

‘Hello, Eleanor.’ His voice sounded warm, and even happy, and Eleanor felt it reverberate all through her body. She closed her eyes in relief. It was going to be okay. She hoped. ‘How’s the party planning going?’

‘Good, I think. The party is tomorrow, you know,’ she added, trying to sound light but not quite able to keep the edge from her voice. ‘Your family is arriving all throughout the day. When are you coming home?’ Home. She should have said
back.
Maybe this wasn’t home; maybe
she
wasn’t home.

‘I’ll be back tonight. I’m sorry I was delayed. I was waiting on something.’

‘Waiting on something?’ Eleanor repeated, wishing she had just a little bit more information, a little bit more insight into Jace’s mind.

‘I’ll tell you everything tomorrow,’ Jace said. ‘I promise.’

Yet as Eleanor hung up the phone she knew she had no idea what
everything
was. What he’d been doing for the last few days, or the secrets of his heart that he’d been keeping from her.

Disconsolately she turned back to the to-do list she’d left on the table.

***

Jace hung up the phone, smiling. He knew Eleanor felt uncertain and confused and perhaps even afraid, but if she could hold on for one more day—if he could?then he knew everything would work out. Everything would be perfect.

Amazing, how his doubts and fears had fallen away in light of that one word, that one great truth: family.

For years he’d simply seen his infertility as his inability to sire a child, to please his own father. He hadn’t considered? hadn’t let himself consider?what it really meant. What he’d really been missing. And now that it could be a reality, now that the floodgates of his heart had finally opened, he knew exactly what he wanted. A family, with the woman he loved. Eleanor.

Love had been such a scary word, a terrifying idea. Love meant you let people in, and once you did they held the power to hurt you. Hurt him the way his father had, the way Eleanor had—or he’d thought she had. He hadn’t ever wanted to experience that again, and so for ten years he hadn’t let anyone in. He hadn’t let anyone even close.

Yet now he was ready; he was more than ready. He was eager, excited, as giddy as a child. Tomorrow he would tell Eleanor he loved her. He would ask her to marry him and they would start their future together. He could see it all perfectly bright, shining and pure.

The day of the party dawned bright, hot, and clear. Eleanor gazed out at the flat, endless blue sky, devoid of a wisp of cloud, or the telltale streak of a jet. She hadn’t heard Jace come back last night, even though she’d stayed up past midnight. She wondered if he’d returned at all.

Resolutely Eleanor turned away from the window. She still had a lot to do.

Yet when she came down into the kitchen, Jace sat at the table, drinking coffee and scanning the newspaper, looking wonderful. Eleanor’s heart seemed to clamber right up into her throat.

‘Jace?’ she managed. She felt a smile spread across her face.

‘Good morning.’ He turned, his eyes warm as his gaze swept over her. ‘I came in so late last night, I didn’t want to disturb you.’

She nodded, swallowing. ‘I’m just glad you’re here.’

‘As am I.’ He paused, and Eleanor suddenly had the feeling that he was going to say something important, maybe even something wonderful, and her heart began to beat with a fast, unsteady rhythm. Then he smiled and said, ‘I just heard that my sister Parthenope will be arriving with her brood in just a few minutes. But… we need to talk. There are things I want to tell you.’

Eleanor nodded mechanically. ‘Okay.’ What things? she wanted to ask. Demand. Good things? Jace rose from the table and came towards her. He brushed an unruly strand of hair from her face and then bent to kiss her. His lips were cool and soft.

‘I have so much to say to you,’ he said, and it felt like a promise. Eleanor made herself believe it was.

Jace’s family arrived throughout the day, throngs of children and five glamorous sisters who possessed the same ink-black hair and grey eyes that he did. Eleanor greeted them all, trying to keep their names straight, smiling politely and nodding her head, all too aware that to them—to anyone—she was nothing but a stranger to fade into the background. The party planner. As far as they were concerned, she had no importance or relationship with Jace at all. And Jace was kept busy with the demands of his family so that Eleanor wondered if that was indeed all she had become. The very fact that she didn’t know, that she might have handed Jace Zervas her heart again only for him to break it, was more than aggravating. It was agonising.

By mid-afternoon the party was in full swing, although Jace’s parents hadn’t arrived. Children played on the beach and climbed on the deckchairs while their parents lounged around, talking and laughing. Eleanor went from room to
room, making sure there was enough food and drink, that everyone was happy. Jace was surrounded by his sisters, although Eleanor saw him beckon her over several times. She ignored it out of some perverse sense of duty, and also because she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear how Jace introduced her.

This is my indispensable party planner…

‘You’ve done such a wonderful job.’ Alecia found her in the foyer, straightening the collection of photos she’d retrieved from upstairs and arranged in a display that highlighted what looked like the happiest moments of the Zervas family. Eleanor turned from the photos. ‘Thank you.’

‘My father will be so pleased, when he arrives.’

‘Do you know when that will be?’

Alecia gave a little laugh. ‘Who knows? Soon, I hope. He’s like Jace, works all the time. Those two are really far too alike.’

‘Are they?’ Eleanor murmured, and Alecia cocked her head.

‘How did Jace hire you?’ she asked, and Eleanor heard suspicion. ‘An American is really an unusual choice.’

‘We’re?acquaintances,’ Eleanor prevaricated, and a feline smile curled Alecia’s mouth.

‘Acquaintances? Because I was quite sure when I saw Jace a few weeks ago that he’d met a woman. And when I suggested he hire someone to plan this party, he brightened considerably.’ She pursed her lips, gazing at Eleanor with open speculation. ‘I wonder if you know anything about that?’

Eleanor flushed. She was not about to reveal the intimacies of her relationship with Jace, not when she still had no idea what the future could possibly hold. ‘I’m not sure,’ she hedged.

The front doors of the villa were suddenly flung open, freeing her from a more detailed reply.

Aristo Zervas stood in the doorway, tall and imposing, the same steely eyes as Jace’s sweeping over the room?and his
family—with a cold assessment. His wife, Kalandra, her dark hair streaked with grey and her face wreathed in a welcoming smile, held onto his arm.

‘Papa!’ Alecia hurried towards her father, enveloping him in a hug, which he returned stiffly. Two of Jace’s other sisters, Parthenope and Elana, followed suit. Jace, having entered the hallway upon his father’s arrival, didn’t move. Eleanor could feel the tension thrumming through him; she felt it in herself. It was as if they were waiting for a storm to break.

‘Jace.’

Jace inclined his head. ‘Father.’ He drew himself up. ‘There’s someone I want you to meet.’

It felt unreal when Jace reached for her, a dream, as his arm curved around her waist. ‘Father, this is Eleanor Langley.’

Aristo moved towards them. His silver gaze turned on Eleanor, took her in from her toes to the top of her head in one arctic sweep. Jace’s arm tightened around her protectively. ‘She is very important to me, Father.’

‘Is she?’ The corner of Aristo’s mouth twitched up in what could be a smile or a sneer. Still spinning in shock, Eleanor managed to find her voice.

‘It’s nice to meet you, sir.’

Aristo nodded gruffly, then turned back to his son. ‘So you were able to come to my party. Not working for once.’ He paused, meaningfully. ‘I don’t know why you work so hard. Who are you going to pass it all on to?’

Eleanor flinched, the barb hurting her as well as Jace, although his face remained expressionless. He’d lived for years with remarks like that, she supposed. She felt nerves dance low in her stomach, a reminder that she hadn’t told him everything. Yet when could she confess? What if it changed things? How could she
still
be such a coward, even now with Jace’s arm around her, when he’d told his own father how he felt?

She is very important to me.

‘The work is its own reward, Father,’ Jace replied evenly. ‘Now I’m sure you want to greet everyone else.’ With a stiff
nod, he drew Eleanor away from Aristo and everyone else crowding the foyer. Eleanor was barely aware of where he was going until they were on the terrace, and Jace tugged her towards the beach.

‘Jace—the party—’

‘They can do without us for a while. I’ve been trying to talk to you all day. I’d almost think you were avoiding me.’

‘No?’ Eleanor protested, half-heartedly, for she knew she had been avoiding him. Even now she was afraid, and it wasn’t just because of what Jace might say, but what she
hadn’t
said.

The sky was lavender, darkening to violet, the first stars visible on the horizon. Despite the lingering warmth of the sun, the wind that blew off the water was chilly. Eleanor kicked off her sandals as Jace led her across the beach; the sand under her feet was silky and cool.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you sooner.’

‘It’s all right.’

Jace turned back to her. The wind ruffled his hair and in the growing darkness Eleanor couldn’t quite make out his expression. ‘I’m sorry about my father as well. As you can see, we don’t have a very close relationship.’

‘Has it always been that way?’ Eleanor asked.

‘Ever since the mumps made me infertile.’

‘Why would that affect your relationship so much?’ Eleanor burst out. ‘It wasn’t your fault—you’re still his son—’

He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. ‘After five girls, my father’s every hope was realised when I was born. I was the apple of his eye for the first fifteen years of my life—I still have those memories to hold onto.’ He paused, and Eleanor thought he might stop, he might distance himself again as he’d done in the past. Then he continued more quietly, ‘And my father’s every hope dashed when I contracted mumps, and the doctor told him I would be infertile. All his life he’d worked hard building up an empire to pass onto his son, his son’s sons. The Zervas dynasty.’ He gave a short,
humourless laugh. ‘His dreams of a legacy—a dynasty—were destroyed that day. I was as good as useless. And he never let me forget it. And the damnable thing is, the doctor was wrong.’

Eleanor swallowed, her throat tight. ‘Oh, Jace—’

‘It doesn’t matter any more.’

‘But it does, of course it does—’

‘No,’ Jace corrected softly, ‘it doesn’t. I don’t care what my father thinks of me, Eleanor. I’m not living my life to gain his approval, although perhaps I was doing that subconsciously by working so hard. Who knows?’ He spread his hands wide. ‘But when I went to Athens I realised what I wanted out of life.’

Her breath dried in her throat. ‘What do you want?’

‘You. I love you.’

Eleanor blinked back tears. She hadn’t expected this; even now, when everything seemed so good, she hadn’t expected so much. Honesty and love. Everything. ‘I love you too,’ she whispered.

‘I went to Athens because I was scared,’ Jace said. ‘Everything was happening so fast, and I didn’t know if I could handle it. I told myself I was afraid of hurting you, but I think I was really afraid of being hurt myself.’

‘I know what that feels like,’ Eleanor whispered.

‘Ever since my father learned I was infertile, I felt like a failure to him, and in a way to everyone. I wasn’t good enough on my own, just as a person. So I had ways of keeping people out. To keep from letting them in.’ He gave her a crooked smile. ‘I’d play the clown or just act like I didn’t care. If you act like you don’t care, perhaps you really won’t.’ Eleanor nodded, understanding, recognising those self-protective tendencies in herself, and Jace continued, his voice roughening with emotion, ‘But that changed when I met you all those years ago. I let
you
in. With your kindness and your laughter and even your chocolate cupcakes. I couldn’t help myself. And when I thought you’d lied to me—it hurt. So much. I was wrong, and yet I let that hurt fester inside me for years.’ He
shook his head in sorrowful acknowledgement of the years they’d lost. ‘Then I found myself letting you in again, here on the island, and it scared me. I didn’t want to be scared, but I was, and that’s why I went to Athens. I needed to sort things out in my own mind—’

‘And you did?’ Eleanor broke in. ‘You seem different now. More… sure.’

‘I am.’ Jace drew her to him, his hands smoothing the hair away from her face. ‘I’m so sure, Eleanor. It was hell without you, even for just a few days, and it made me realise—actually my sister made me realise—’